Can Computers Write Science Books?

The German academic publisher Springer has recently brought out a whole book written by a piece of artificial intelligence software called Beta Writer. The book, Lithium-Ion Batteries: a machine generated summary of current research, can be downloaded free of charge as a PDF.… Read the rest

Review: The Plant Messiah – Carlos Magdalena ****

With its neon green, floral cover and commanding The Plant Messiah title, I knew I had to pay the heartbreakingly expensive £20* just to read this book, whether I enjoyed it or not. So off I went, the poor biology student that I am, knowing that even if it were a tedious read, at least it would look good on the book shelf.… Read the rest

Review: How to Speak Science – Bruce Benamran ***

I can’t remember a book where my mental picture of what the star rating would be has varied so much. At first glance, it looked like a solid 4 star title. It looks fun (despite the odd title – it sounds like it’s a book on public speaking for geeks) and a flick through showed that it covers a huge amount of science topics, mostly physics – so it was promising as a beginner’s overview. … Read the rest